Opposition to new terminal in Brunswick County

The wheels are turning for a new port while a local group is trying to put on the brakes.
The North Carolina Ports Authority has made an agreement with an Illinois-based developer on an international terminal in Southport.
But, the idea of a Brunswick County port comes with plenty of resistance.
The group, No Port Southport held its first public meeting last night, and had a big turnout.
After this meeting, the non-profit group gained plenty of supporters who signed petitions and volunteered time and money.
Ports Authority officials are aware of the resistance, and even though they made an agreement with a potential private developer, say they're willing to listen to concerns.

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George Carlin, who was a social commentator as well as a comedian, did a bit on a topic he called NIMBY. NIMBY translated literally means Not In My Back Yard and that mentality remains strong for those who wish to have a Brunswick County Port but who live in Shallotte, Holden Beach, Supply, Leland, Navassa and elsewhere. Locations that won't, ostensibly, be harmed by the new port. Think about the unwanted truck traffic, such as that generated by the container parking lot in Belville/Leland. The roads are not only too rural and narrow they are not fortified to withstand the constant weight of 30-ton trucks rumbling along them. This is not just an environmental disaster being courted it is also a personal health and welfare concern. We, the residents of Brunswick County should all say loud and strong NIMBY!
You want a port, how about making the State Port in Wilmington a more viable entity. It is already environmentally safe, prepared to expand and has a road network to support it, although that needs to be improved! Get this idea back to where it belongs and out of the hands of the politicians and their "sweetheart" deals!

types of people with their..."mentality" are the exact people who gave rapist more rights in courts than their victims, criminals TV in prison and have fought to remove every ounce of morality out of this country....
We should gather them ALL UP...give them the state of California...put up a big fence and let them live how they want...with NO help from the rest of us!

The development in Southport and Brunswick County will wreck long term environmental havoc. Increased flooding and damage from hurricanes and pollution of the river and streams. The Chesapeake Bay area has seen horrible problems from the way the area has developed, and we could learn from their case. Development can be positive, but should be conducted with caution and thought to the environmental consequences. Also with thought to what type of jobs we want. Sure, some money will come in in the short term -- but the town will be an unpleasant, polluted, place to live, if there still is a town at all (just look at climate change projections of rising sea levels) for our children.

Exactly when were the huge ports at Baltimore and Norfolk built? Is your contention that mankind can't build better? That we haven't learned anything in the past century plus?
If you investigate the Chesapeake Bay's problems, you will find that the ports rank very low on the list of causes. The biggest problem is pollution caused by massive development on the upper portions of the bay. Everyone wants the view from their deck to be a pristine bay at the edge of their pristine lawn, but the two don't go hand-in-hand. Runoff from fertilizer and very old municipal sewage systems upstream are the largest causes of pollution in the bay.
Still, even if the ports were a problem, we are not building the port in a sheltered bay that is over a hundred miles long with a relatively narrow mouth. If you notice, the old ports on the East Coast were always built in protected harbors or miles up rivers. The Brunswick port will be build at what is basically a meeting of the Cape Fear and Atlantic Ocean. Anyone who knows that area knows the force of the currents that wrap around Bald Head Island and flush the area four times a day.
So unless you want your children to be caddies, work at WalMart, or rent kayaks, you'd better realize that this area needs jobs that pay above minimum wage. The Wilmington area STILL has one of the lowest average salaries for an urban area in the Southeast, and it is ludicrous to believe that we can build a thriving economy by accepting only squeeky-clean, white-collar employers where all employees work in a forest of cubicles. Many people don't want to work in that environment, and quite honestly, many people don't have the intellect (or wardrobe) to work in that type environment.
"Development can be positive, but should be conducted with caution and thought to the environmental consequences." Exactly right! That environmental care can be DEMANDED of the new port, Titan, and any other heavy industry that wants to locate in this area.....
...but to simply stamp our feet, scream, yell, and cry "Not here" every time such an industry tries to locate here simply insures that the area will never truly develop. We will continue to see our children move to Raleigh, Charlotte or Atlanta to find good jobs, and we will have a permanent underclass of people who get by as best they can, beacuse there are so few blue collar jobs available.

Please, Please, Please I would like to congraulate these people for keeping us in the dark ages. Just tink of the money/jobs this would create? Think of the industry that spawns off of this port. The cruise ships will be able to come here because the port is at the mouth of the river instead of in the middle surrounded by power lines. Think of what that industry alone will produce. I myself do not like having to drive all the way to Florida to have to vacation on a cruise when we could go out right from here. Then you have the motel industry. The vehicle industry shops repairs, tires etc.. You guys don't think before you speak. Think of the over ALL picture before you say no. I think all of us need to be apart of this not just the folks in Brunswick County too.

Southport is a charming, historic get away for many, part of the "unique experience" traveling to Bald Head Island, and a special place to live.
It is also a port, and always has been, and the best location for any new port expansion in our area. This expansion would benefit many and secure the entire area, including the port city of Wilmington, into the future.
Yes, it would change and expand Southport with something other than tourists, retirees, and "bedroom community" residents.
I ask, if the roads are made adequate (which they must be), would this not ultimately be a positive advancement.
Please remember, this area is fine with a nuclear power plant.

Yet another group of retired old codgers trying to stop any project that might bring jobs to the area!
Of course, they don't NEED jobs....they're retired.
Looks like the only prospects for future employment around here will be for geriatric healthcare or funeral services....

Belville Betty, what an attitude you have. What is wrong with residents wanting to preserve their home? I wonder if you wanted Hugo Nu to locate near where you live. Belleville, you don't even have a motel anymore. Maybe you should petition for the port. It would be a lot easier for trucks to get there than to Southport.

I agree with everyone here besides Guest421. Those that are against this international port really need to take a look at the overall picture that it would bring to the area. Instead of yelling no no and no they need to look at areas like Charleston and Norfolk which have these ports. They are just as much a tourist area as we are and they still have people come from all around to still vacation in their area. Not only will this port bring lots of jobs for folks, but also an increased amount of tourist especially if they put a cruise port like those other ports have. Southport wouldn't lose its charm at all, this would pave the way for improved roads and many other much needed sprucing up that some areas in southport so desperately needs.
I have lived in the Southport/Oak Island all of my life and I for one am glad to see something like this coming to town. It wasn't until those coming from all over the US to retire with all there money and attitudes that Brunswick County started going to pot. Before all the changes that you folks made we were a small populated county that was filled with trees and beautiful scenery. Now there's only places like St. James,(that ruined our wetland areas - look it up they got fined well over a million dollars for attempting to build yet another golf course on protected wetlands even after getting declined on their permits) that thinks they are better then everyone else. It's not about folks preserving their homes, its about these rich folks wanting to keep something that would help this county grow and prosper and keep their precious money to themselves. If they wanted to preserve their homes then they could have moved to the mountains where there is no oceans.

Trucks will get there easily once Interstate 174 replaces NC 211. Four lanes of access controlled interstate highway running from Bolton to Southport.
CSX will also double up on the Sunny Point spur, extend it to the port and likely build a switching yard somewhere around the junction of NC 87 and 133.
Sleepy ol' Southport will still be there, relatively unchanged. A mile outside Southport is going to look like Long Beach.
The plans are in place, the initial designs sketched out. Our grandchildren will work at a port to rival Newark, Baltimore, or Miami.